This is the way we may know that we are in union with him:
whoever claims to abide in him ought to walk just as he walked. ( 1 Jn. 2:3)
To me, John sometimes seems to be esoteric and obscure. He often talks about love. Here in this citation, he puts feet on his vision of Christian love. Obviously, even though it can be very challenging and difficult at times, we cannot walk in the light of Christ and hate our brothers and sisters at the same time. Continue reading
Thoughts, feelings,
Perceptions and sensations
Going and coming,
Coming and going.
In and out,
Over and over again.
Is this mad babble me?
Who am I?
Where am I?
Not-self.
Not-separate.
No-where.
I am no-thing.
I am no-where. Continue reading
I am sharing this experience and the theology behind it with you in the hopes that it will be helpful to you. It represents a powerful healing experience for me. I hope you find the experience and the thinking behind it helpful.
In September, I attended a workshop at an Episcopal church on healing ministry. I thought I was going there to learn about healing others. I soon found out that I was going there to learn about myself. We learned about journaling and reflection. During a period of reflection, memories of past hurts came to the fore. I had thought about some of these things before and had never resolved them. They came together this time in a powerful way that was almost overwhelming. I shared what I had journaled with members of the teaching team and they invited me to meet with members of a prayer team at a later date to deal with these things. Continue reading
Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit. (1 Thess. 5:16-19)
Is Paul a Buddhist? No, Paul is not a Buddhist. Paul is a leader in the Jesus movement. In the early church, the Jesus movement was a sect, like the Pharisees, within Judaism. Continue reading
Pray that the Prince of Peace will bring the peace and justice only he can give. This is a link to picture of a mother who with her children watched her husband being killed in the Kiwanja massacre in the Congo in early November. This is FAITH!
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/12/11/world/20081211CONGO_7.html
It is pretty damp and dank in the cellar [The cellar–close your door and go into your cellar when you pray.] this morning. We are in the midst of three days of much needed rain. I usually think of rain as something bad whereas sunshiny days are something good. Rain is not negative. It is a positive life force. Water is the sign of divine healing and Abba God is healing our severe drought. Praise the rain and the life that comes from it. Praise the creator who brings it to nourish and sustain us.
It is the second Thursday in Advent and John the Baptizer’s disciples come to Jesus with the question, “Are you the one who is to come should we look for another?” Continue reading
He humbles those in high places,
and the lofty city he brings down;
He tumbles it to the ground,
levels it with the dust.
It is trampled underfoot by the needy,
by the footsteps of the poor. (Is. 26:5-6)
These words from Isaiah are powerful. I immediately think back to Mary’s Magnificat when I read them. God will bring down the high and mighty when the high and mighty ignore the word of God. The high and mighty have little to teach us—domination, greed, and power. Continue reading
I just watched a most inspiring video. It is a video of Brenden Foster, an 11 year old boy who is dying of leukemia. Brendan knew he had two weeks to live. On his way back to the hospital after a treatment, he saw homeless people huddled in a place. He knew he had to do something to help them. “I have to give them something.†Too weak to do anything himself, he enlisted the aid of others. Soon food drives for the homeless flourished in Seattle and then across the country. What a wonderful legacy this 11 year old has left. Watch this inspiring video as another child teaches us http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-vaGctUJJY. Continue reading
[Note–Fr. Anthony Delisi, a Trappist monk at the Monastery of our Lady of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, GA has written a book, Praying in the Cellar. I have been using his prayer method and am sharing this particular moment in my cellar with you the reader.]
There is often a darkness deep down things in the cellar especially in the winter. I have gone into my room and closed the door. I have gone into Fr. Anthony Delisi’s cellar. The cellar is little used after the fall canning season. The coal fired furnace has to be stoked. The sun sets early and rises late. The deep down darkness is ushering in the season of death. The leaves have fallen and are decaying. The frost and snow fall gently upon the earth. The darkness permeates my soul and deadens me. When I descend into the darkness within, I go down and down until I find nothing. Nothing! It John of the Cross’ dark night of the soul. Without even a glimmer of hope-light, I rest in the darkness. I meet the God of nothingness. In that nothingness I sense the fullness of life. Continue reading
Psalm 124 The Bailout
If the Creator were not on our side
—let all peoples now say—
If the Creator were not on our side,
As our financial systems are failing,
Then despair would be swallowing us up alive.
When the greedy financiers swindled us,
Bankruptcy would have swept us away.
When world markets were tumbling and failing,
The torrent of financial disaster would have gone over us.
When war and bailouts were bankrupting the nation,
Then the raging waters of poverty would have swept over us.
Blessed be the Creator, who has not given us as prey to their greed.
We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the financiers;
The snare is broken, and we have escaped.
The Creator is lifting us up on eagle’s wings,
Saving us from the greed of earthly riches.
Our only bailout is in the name of the Creator,
Who is recreating heaven and earth.
We place our hope and trust in the Creator
Who is flashing forth in splendor
Ever renewing the face of the universe.
© J. Patrick Mahon, 2008